NASA has selected the research proposal of Xuan Song, a University of Iowa assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering, among four Iowa projects to receive NASA EPSCoR funding.

Song’s team will collaborate with scientists at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center to develop novel additive manufacturing (or 3D printing) approaches to fabricate complex ceramic components with high strength and extreme heat resistance. 

“Our research can help enable novel design and manufacturing of NASA’s next-generation nuclear propulsion systems, which can allow faster and more efficient exploration of deep space in the future,” said Song, who directs the Additive Manufacturing Product Realization Laboratory and is a faculty affiliate with the Iowa Technology Institute.

The funding is though the Rapid Response Research (R3) initiative, which is a collaborative effort between NASA EPSCoR programs and NASA mission Directorate Programs, to solve program and mission problems for NASA. The Iowa Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) is a federal-state partnership aimed at increasing Iowa’s national research competitiveness and building research and development capacity in Iowa. Three Iowa State University researchers and an additional University of Iowa researcher were also selected for funding during the FY 2022 cycle.

Song is recruiting a new PhD student to participate in the research. The NASA funding is $100,000 over one year.